Case Study
Engine
Analysis with LUSAS and Lasers
The Department of Physics, at the University of Agriculture in Nitra,
Slovak Republic used LUSAS Analyst together with Holographic Interferometry
(HI) techniques to predict deformations caused by assembling engine crankcases and
cylinder heads.
As part of project LINDA (Laser Interferometry and Numerical Deformation
Analysis) displacements of parts of the engine that can be measured by laser are compared
with calculated values from LUSAS. From these results, the boundary conditions for the
engine model, i.e. supports, loading, contact criteria etc. can be modified to more
closely model the real behaviour of the engine. Once the model has been fine-tuned in this
way, very accurate displacement values can be obtained for internal non-measurable parts
of the engine.
Two
tractor engines, of four and six cylinders each were modelled and measured to determine
deformations during assembly. Nonlinear static contact analyses using slidelines were done
on both engines to investigate the effect of bolt loads on the cast iron crankcase and
special cast iron cylinder liners. Two different modelling approaches were investigated.
The 6-cylinder engine was modelled using 14000 thick shell elements. The 4-cylinder engine
was solved using 5600 hexahedral solid elements.
Good correlation was achieved between test and model results, satisfying
the design requirements. These results will be used to help improve the engine design.
LUSAS Analyst was chosen by The University of Nitra for this analysis project in
preference to other systems because it offered the best price/performance ratio, has no
limit on model size and can be easily used by graduate and post-graduate students involved
in the project.
Other LUSAS Analyst case
studies:
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